PSALM FIFTY FIVE
THE WAY OF ESCAPE. (THE EKBASIS.)
1 Corinthians 10:13. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is
common to man, but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted
above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a WAY OF
ESCAPE, that ye may be able to bear it." Here is the God given way of escape.
God does not test us to break us, but to make us. He wants us to come out of
the experience stronger than we went into it. This principle is very helpful
to us when we consider this psalm.
David was very upset and he commences the song without revealing what is
behind it. In the middle, however, he exclaims, "It was not an enemy that
reproached me, then I could have borne it; neither was it he that hated me
that magnified himself against me - then I would have hid myself from him;
but it was thou, a man, mine equal, my guide, mine acquaintance; we
counselled together, and walked into God's House in company. It was mine own
familiar friend."
THAT was something that rankled.
The two sacred things in which men pretend are Friendship and Religion,
and in both these their pretence is devastating. If a person is a pretender
in the one, that person will be also suspect in the other. There cannot be
true religion in the heart of a man or woman who is a betrayer of
friendships. If you cannot maintain your friendship with humans, you will not
keep it with God. The New Testament states that if we say we love God and
love not our brother, we are liars. How can a man love God whom he has not
seen, if he love not his brother whom he has seen? Flatterers are a
particularly dangerous class of people. There are many who flatter their
friends in deceit, and they try to flatter God in their so-called worship.
Temptation and trial are common to man. In effect, David says, "There are
some things I can put up with" - my enemy reproaching me - those that hate me
- but when it was the person who came with me to the House of God in company
- going to worship together - it was devastating. Such things have happened
all through the history of mankind. There have been Judases in every
generation.
BUT there is that small word in 1 Corinthians 10 which is very comforting
- THE EKBASIS - the way of escape. There is a safety valve in every
situation. This Psalm was probably written about the time of Absalom's death.
In the song there is a threefold description of the enemy, and a threefold
way of escape. When God puts us to the test, there is always a safety valve.
It is noteworthy that David uses four names for God in the psalm: El-God;
Adonai-Lord; Jehovah-Lord; Elohim-God. It is as though he is reinforcing his
faith by calling upon every concept within him of ALMIGHTY GOD. He appeals to
God, "Hide not Thyself from me O Lord!" This is rather a wonderful phrase.
The expression he uses was used in the Law. It was forbidden by the Law to
wilfully withhold aid from one who needed it. If your brother was in need,
you had to supply it. If you did not help your blood brother - you were
HIDING YOURSELF FROM HIM. Behind the word HIDE which David uses in his appeal
to the Almighty is that expression: "Lord! When I am in need, please supply
it." Just when you need Him, God reveals Himself.
CONSIDER THE ENEMY AND THE EKBASIS.
THE FRIEND WHO WAS AN ENEMY.
In verse 3 David uses the phrases, "The voice of the enemy" and "The
oppression of the wicked." But it is a friend he is referring to in the
middle of the psalm. How can the voice of a friend be the voice of an enemy?
Any voice of a friend that leads us away from the counsel of God is the voice
of an enemy. Remember, Satan himself can come as an angel of light. He can
deceive us with ease.
In another place the psalmist David says, "Some trust in princes, some
trust in horses, but I will trust in the Name of the Lord." There is ONE whom
you can trust under all circumstances. In verse 5 David says, "Fearfulness
and trembling have come upon me and horror hath overwhelmed me." David was by
no means 'chicken-hearted.' Think about it! He had faced, bare handed,the
lion, the bear, and the giant Goliath. He fought the lion, he faced the bear,
for the sake of his sheep, and he faced the giant Philistine on behalf of his
nation. But what he could not face was a WICKED FRIEND. Treachery had cut him
to the quick. The voice of the enemy was the voice of his friend.
Most opinions lean to the fact that he probably refers to AHITHOPHEL - "A
man like me!" he says, "A teacher who taught me and made me know wisdom." He
was the one who gave him advice. A man of whom he thought, "I must be able to
trust him!" The problem is, that when people let us down, we distrust
everything they have told us. Yet some of those things were true. David had
been badly let down by "One who sweetly communicated with me!" It made
everything a mockery, he must have felt that he did not want to see the
Temple anymore. He describes this friend-enemy in a threefold way - he says,
"The wicked-the Traitors-and those of our own house who deny God!" We can
recognise the wicked. We are able to distinguish the traitors - they leave
the faith and cause confusion among the faithful. But what difficulties we
have with those of our own house, of our own friends, of our own
acquaintances who deny God. Suddenly they are the enemies within. They can so
occupy and fill our live!
s, that they lead us away from God. There lies the subtilty of it.
What a predicament! There is however a WAY OUT - an EKBASIS.
David says, "O for the wings of a Dove!" The underlying desire is to fly
away. We all know that feeling. "If only I could get away from it all. I
could remain in the wilderness. However, we can be sure of this, that God has
no intention of keeping us in constant isolation. He brings us out and brings
us through. To wander off and remain isolated in the wilderness is no real
answer to the problem.
There is another answer, "As for me, I will call upon God and the Lord
shall save me," David sings in verse 16. How many times must this happen
before we can believe it? Again and again we declare, "If this goes on much
longer I'll break!" We have all been guilty of saying, "I can't stand it any
more!" Every time we say that we have forgotten God's EKBASIS. God has
promised that with every trial He will provide a way of escape. If we call
upon God - He will answer. Don't Break! PRAY!
It is essential to develop this dependence upon God. "Cast thy burden upon
the Lord and He shall sustain thee." In the very nature of man's experience,
every one of us will carry a burden at one time or another. There is the
classic story of a man trudging down a country lane with a heavy sack on his
shoulders. A friend driving a horse drawn cart overtakes him and offers him a
lift. "Jump up behind, I'll give you a lift." He jumps in the cart, but after
a while the friend hears him grunting and groaning. Looking around he sees
the poor man sitting there with the sack still on his shoulders. If you
accept a lift from God, drop your load. "He shall sustain thee".
Always accept God's way of escape - the EKBASIS.
Copyright (c) 1996, Hedley Palmer. All rights reserved.
----------------------------------------------------
file: /pub/resources/text/hpalmer/psalms: ps-055.txt
.